Agencies take refresher on parliamentary procedure

Local agencies participated yesterday in a half-day parliamentary procedure seminar that aimed to refresh people’s awareness on the proper and effective ways of conducting meetings.

Frank Strong, president of the Iowa-based company Strong Leadership Skills, facilitated the brief workshop while on island for the Partners in Policy Making project in conjunction with the CNMI Developmental Disabilities Council.

The training centered on how Ed Roberts rules are used as guides to conduct productive proceedings among private or public organizations.

The parliament procedure is a set of rules that govern the conduct of meetings which originated in early English parliaments. It came to America with the first settlers and in 1876 Henry M. Robert published the first manual on Parliamentary Law.

The rules allow every member of an organization to be heard and to make decisions without confusion.

“The parliamentary procedure underscores on the importance of each person’s vote, especially now with the election situation in America,” said Mr. Strong.

According to the Center for Community Change, an organization based in Washington, a good meeting is a “wonderful and rare thing.”

The group which has released a manual called “How to Run a Good Meeting: A Guide for New Leaders,” states that good meetings are rare because it takes work and lots of practice and a little art to accomplish one.

It has listed some 14 basic guidelines to be followed in order to produce an ideal meeting:

• Understand that a meeting is the middle of a process of preparation and follow up.

• Start on time. this is a courtesy to those who bothered to get there at the advertised time and sets a tone from the start that group means business.

• Start with introductions.

• Review the agenda. Every meeting, even an impromptu one should have an agenda. It keeps a meeting focused and allows the chair to stop an unrelated discussion. They key is to make sure everyone has an opportunity to influence and approve the agenda before u start.

• Make sure each person has an opportunity to participate. If you don’t plan for this, it will cause disruptions in the proceedings.

• Set an ending time and stick to it.

• Make some rules and keep to them.

• Chair the meeting. Meetings require control to stay out of a discussion on the merits of the topic and the boldness to interrupt the speech maker if his or her time is up.

• Finish one thing and move on to the next.

• Get a specific response if your meeting has a target.

• End with a review of the decisions reached and assignments made.

• Set up the next meeting before you leave.

• Give people a parting shot.

• Keep your sense of humor. In a serious business where there’s plenty to be serious about, don’t miss an opportunity to laugh together. A chair can put a small group at ease and get the support of the a big group with a light touch.

And lastly, according to the manual, a great meeting leaves nobody wondering, “Was this meeting really necessary?”. (MM)